WITH the LV County Championship in sight, Geoff Cook has challenged his Durham side to reproduce the “hard cricket” which all summer has put them within touching distance of retaining the title.

The league leaders entertain second-placed Nottinghamshire from today boasting a 27-point advantage over their rivals – and a game in hand.

In the hope of securing the Championship in front of a bumper home crowd, the Riversiders are offering free admission for all on days three and four (Friday and Saturday).

Cook refuses to look that far ahead, but that should not suggest a lack of confidence in his side and their chances of yet another victory.

Cook said: “It is a potentially massive game, as it could have a huge effect on the title race.

“I am not thinking too far ahead.

“We will take each day as it comes but we are in great form, playing with a lot of confidence and it should be a very good game.

“We are top, and they are second in the table, although we have a game in hand, so they have to come and try to win it.

“That will not change our approach – we have had a good balance and make-up to the side for some time and we will go forward and try to get a hold on the game.

“That has served us well so far, we are unbeaten in the Championship and it would be of great credit to the players if they could go the whole season unbeaten.

“We have played hard cricket all season, even when we could only draw our first three games.

“We just have to keep doing what has so far worked for us and hopefully everything will fall into place.

“We have always had chances of victory and more often than not we have dug deep and taken them.”

Much of that is down to the plethora of match-winners at Durham’s disposal.

Cook could barely be happier about having added the ‘insurance policy’ of Shivnarine Chanderpaul to the mix for Durham’s run-in. He added: “Shiv is a top-class player, it is great to have him back and he enjoys being with us.

“He got straight back into the swing of things with a century against Somerset and it is pleasantly reassuring to have someone of his class to come in at this stage of the season.

“We are also lucky to have had Steve Harmison for much of the season, and Graham Onions got us off to a great start.

“They have had great support from Callum Thorp and Liam Plunkett, while Ian Blackwell’s spin has made a great difference to the balance of our attack.”

That attack needed tweaking against Notts, however.

Onions is with England and Thorp has a back injury, meaning Mark Davies, Mitch Claydon and Gareth Breese were drafted into the squad.

:: ENGLAND hoped to crack their poor batting form in a bid to claw their way back into the NatWest Series against Australia today.

The day-night encounter at the Rose Bowl in Southampton has become a must-win match for Andrew Strauss’ team, who are 2-0 down after twice failing to chase down reasonable targets in London.